Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (9) reacts after being sacked for a loss by New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) during the first half of NFL Wild Card Playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Eric Hartline/21st Century Media

PHILADELPHIA — Chip Kelly has an agreement to coach the Eagles for five years, each one different, each one difficult. None, he might as well go ahead and accept, will be like the one that ended Saturday night in the Linc. None will be that saturated with opportunity.

That’s not how the Eagles will sell it, and if there is anything that franchise can do, it is sell. That will not be the offseason narrative. That was not the theme Saturday night after a 26-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints bumped their championship-free streak to 54.

They will not admit it, and, well, they shouldn’t, really. They have to convince themselves they are nearing ever closer to ultimate NFL achievement, then use it as a mental boost to try it all again.

But this was the year.

This one.

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This.

This was the year to catch a physically unprepared Robert Griffin III and a Mike Shanahan program in retreat.

This was the year to play the Packers, in Lambeau, and not have to solve Aaron Rodgers.

This was the year to roll the Lions into the Linc and into an avalanche.

This was the year to play an effective playoff game in Dallas, but against the Cowboys’ second quarterback.

This was the year for Kelly to catch the NFL a little unaware of his rat-a-tat-tat system.

This was the year for Nick Foles to thrive, without a film library on his every quarterbacking nuance.

This was the year to earn a home playoff game, in the cold, against a dome team playing without Pierre Thomas. This was the year to avoid Adrian Peterson and Reggie Bush. This was the year to catch Tom Coughlin rebooting. This was the year to benefit from a last-place schedule. This was the year to win a championship, not to win the right to prepare to win a championship in some other year, the way the Eagles have been doing since 1960.

Not that the Eagles and Kelly didn’t take advantage of their opportunities, winning 10 games and their division’s championship, restoring the respectability that the franchise had lost in its long, late, dreary days under Andy Reid. The Birds did, and it brought a bonus season of enjoyment to a deserving customer base. But none of it means they will be so productive next season ... or in any of Kelly’s remaining four.

Kelly will not catch anyone unaware next season. The Saints proved that Saturday, figuring out how to blunt DeSean Jackson, showing how to slow McCoy. That’s why the regular season and the playoffs differ. Good coaches, and Sean Payton is one, figure things out after Week 17.

Consider, too, the Eagles’ 2014 schedule. They will play in San Francisco, Indianapolis, Arizona, Green Bay, the three other NFC East cities and in Houston against the Bill O’Briens. At home, among other tests, they will play Seattle and Carolina. Are there 10 more wins in there? Are there more — enough, that is, to trampoline to a No. 1 seed in the NFC tournament? Maybe. Who knows, anyway, if those teams will be as strong next season as they look at the end of this one? But that schedule looks rough, rougher than the one the Eagles just played.

“I know that this team is going to continue to improve,” Foles said. “And we’re going to continue to work hard. That doesn’t guarantee wins, but it puts us in a position to be successful.”

That’s true. The Eagles are dedicated and motivated and coached well, and Foles is young and determined, and McCoy has not yet reached his peak. And the operation has cash to spend. Then, there was this: “I have no doubt that we will be back and that we are more confident than ever, now that we know what we can accomplish.”

Jeffrey Lurie said that. Jeffrey Lurie always says that. But whether he knows it or not, he rarely had more of a chance to be correct than he did this season.